The present invention relates to garment hangers.
The prior art is replete with various configurations of garment hangers that incorporate structure for selectively adjusting the hanger""s width to accommodate different size garments. Applicant""s issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,102,019; 5,511,701, 5,664,710 and pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/699,071 disclose some such structures as do certain ones of the references U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,477,873, 3,024,954, 5,044,535, European patents DE-C-286 192, WO-A-94 02056, DE-U-88 04 572 and DE-A-40 07 320 cited therein.
The present invention is directed to garment hangers incorporating improved structures for adjusting the hanger""s width to support garments of different sizes.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an adjustable garment hanger having first and second elongated support arms extending from a medial portion, a transfer mechanism located at the medial portion; and first and second movable arms mounted respectively for translation along the first and second support arms. The first and second support arms are supported relative to one another at an obtuse angle therebetween; and in that each of the movable arms couples to the transfer mechanism by a linkage tongue for reciprocal translation of the movable arms along their respective support arms. When force is applied on the first movable arm in the direction along the axis of the respective first support arm, the force is translated to the second extension arm for reciprocal motion of the second extension arm along the second support arm. The transfer mechanism incorporated in this embodiment is at least one wheel and in that each of the linkage tongues is coupled to the wheel for reciprocal translation of the movable arms along their respective support arms. Each of the linkage tongues is preferred to comprise a flexible section, located at the region proximate to the medial portion of the hanger.
In another alternative embodiment, an adjustment knob is integrally molded or coupled to the wheel to facilitate manual turning thereof for translation of the movable arms. Conveniently, an electric motor is provided for driving the wheel.
In yet a further embodiment a transfer mechanism preferably comprising at least a first wheel mounted proximal to the medial portion for rotation; each of the linkage tongues having an inner end and an outer end. The inner ends of each linkage tongue is coupled to the transfer mechanism for reciprocal translation of the movable arms along their support arms. Advantageously, in any of the embodiments the wheel(s) includes a plurality of peripherally defined teeth and each inner end of the linkage tongues defines a plurality of teeth. Although the linkage tongue is preferably to be of a rigid structure for this embodiment, it can also comprise a flexible region to interact with the adjustment or transfer mechanism.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of forming an adjustable garment hanger, comprising the steps of arranging first and second elongate support arms to define an obtuse angle therebetween; providing an adjustment or transfer mechanism at the medial portion of the hanger; mounting open ended first and second linkage tongues on the first and second arms respectively for translation therealong; and for reciprocal translation of the linkage tongues along their respective support arms; mounting first and second movable arms to travel along the respective supporting arms; and connect each linkage tongues with the respective movable arms.
In yet another embodiment, the medial portion is divided into two halves; a front half and a rear half. The two supporting arms extend from each end of either the front half or the rear half of the medial portion, and these sections are formed as an integral part by injection molding or die-casting. The other half forms a cover to cover the medial portion only. In this embodiment, after the open-ended linkage tongues are installed in the first half of the hanger, the other half is covered onto the assembly to prevent the components from detached. In this design, each of the supporting arms is formed in a U shape channel to accommodate the linkage tongues of the two movable arms. Since the U shape channels are not covered, there is an opportunity for the remote ends of the linkage tongues to expose from the open sides of the U shape channels.
In a further preferred embodiment channels are provided for guiding each of the linkage tongues along a path that feed the linkage tongue to the adjustment or transfer mechanism located at the medial portion of the garment hanger. Conveniently, each of the channel or paths includes a first segment substantially aligned with one of the support arms and a second segment substantially aligned with the other of the support arms. The channels, or guides, preferable be able to guide the flexible linkage tongue along the respective supporting arm, have guiding walls surrounding the linkage tongue so as to maintain the flexible region of the linkage tongue to stay in a proper shape under control. In case of a U shape supporting arm design, a retaining structure is required to prevent the flexible linkage tongue from exiting the supporting arms through the open side of the U shape channel. One of the retaining design is to provide a guiding tongue or rib along the side of the first flexible linkage tongue and a matching groove along the side of the other flexible linkage tongue, such that the tongue and groove engage the two flexible linkage tongues together and prevent them from exiting the open side of the U shape supporting arm.
The gear of the upper linkage tongue is preferred to face upward and that of the lower linkage tongue to face downward, such that the matching tongue and groove design can be provided to the lower side of the upper linkage tongue and the upper side of the lower linkage tongue. Unlike applicant""s previously invented adjustable hangers, the two flexible linkage tongues are touching and sliding along each other during the hanger width adjusting process. It means the tongue and groove of the two flexible linkage tongues are configured to slide against each other; accordingly it is difficult for the transfer mechanism to provide a gear in between the two linkage tongues. In a preferred embodiment, the transfer mechanism provides a first gear on top of the upper linkage tongue, a second gear beneath the lower linkage tongue. A third gear is positioned by the side of the sliding linkage tongues, engaging the first and second gears to provide the reciprocal transfer motion. Alternately an O ring with internal gears is provided for linking the first gear to the second gear to provide the reciprocal transfer motion.
In order to prevent the movable arms and the linkage tongues to be removed from the garment hanger when the movable arms are stretched to the outermost position, stoppers interacting between the linkage tongues and the guiding walls or a stopping structure at the medial portion are provided. Alternatively, interacting stopper can be provided in between the support arms and the moving arms as disclosed in applicant""s issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,718. Many different stopper designs known to the art can be implemented to restrict the movement of the linkage tongues or the movable arms when they are extended to a predefined extended position.